The 4th Annual The Escapist Film Festival Is Now Live

[APSunder]

Update: Tried submitting twice over this weekend and it didn't work either time (I attempted to upload and after about twenty minutes got an error)

 

[Spinwhiz]

I have registered! (I'm just glad this name hasn't been taken. I'd have been very sad.)

I have a specific question about the consent form that I didn't see answered here. I'm something of a one-man operation, but if I were to have someone else get involved and had them sign the form, could I (the sole producer) also act as the witness, or would I need a third person to act as the witness?

I've made a few films and stuff, and getting me and one other person together at the same time is seldom a problem, but getting three people together can be a challenge sometimes.

You would need someone else to act as a witness. If they are under the age needed to be in film, the person's guardian/parent would have to sign.

Are we allowed to use excerpts from films or gameplay footage? Naturally, I'd be sure to credit them to their respective owners, but I worry I still might be breaching copyright laws.

It's a grey area and will depend on what the images are. Unskippable uses cut scenes directly from the game and that works out just fine.

Update: Tried submitting twice over this weekend and it didn't work either time (I attempted to upload and after about twenty minutes got an error)

We are working on that for you as I type. Please stay tuned.

 

[RedShift]

I'm wondering about file types for these movies. For instance, I'm using Fraps to capture video off a game and it gives a .avi file type, but it also is an insanely huge size file. I can fix that by throwing it into windows live movie maker and that brings it done by quite a bit (since 200mb is size 'limit', this is kinda a must). However, windows live movie maker only exports in .wmv format. I don't know a whole lot about playing video online, so I don't know what file type it should be in to work with your guys stuff.

So, more to the point, what file type's do you guys use? Can I use .wmv or does it have to be an .avi or something?

 

[Spinwhiz]

I'm wondering about file types for these movies. For instance, I'm using Fraps to capture video off a game and it gives a .avi file type, but it also is an insanely huge size file. I can fix that by throwing it into windows live movie maker and that brings it done by quite a bit (since 200mb is size 'limit', this is kinda a must). However, windows live movie maker only exports in .wmv format. I don't know a whole lot about playing video online, so I don't know what file type it should be in to work with your guys stuff.

So, more to the point, what file type's do you guys use? Can I use .wmv or does it have to be an .avi or something?

.wmv or .avi would be fine, whichever is easier for you. However, the bigger file sizes sometimes are more difficult to download, so if .wmv makes it a tad smaller, I would suggest that.

 

[APSunder]

I've got the same question about time: My current cut is a little over 6 minutes (originally cut from 8) as I thought I could cut out unnecessary lines for 5 minutes, but found out it's incredibly difficult because of how fast the series goes anyway. Would you accept something that's, say 5:30, 5:45, 5:59? (Youtube used to defined 10 minutes as 10:59 and 29/30 frames)

 

[Jimtopia]

I have a couple questions. First off, I've been assuming that it's not okay, but I figured I'd ask anyway, is old video game sound effects off limits for use in our videos? Like the Mario coin sound, or the Pokemon "got item" sound?

Also, I'm currently using a Mac, and will be doing post-production in After Effects, and I don't believe (I'm pretty darned sure) that I wont be able to output a .avi, or a .wmv. Would a .mp4 or a .mov be acceptable or does it have to be .avi or .wmv?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[InventiveHero]

I'm ready to ROCK some FACES this year! I'm so excited to be entering this year with such a strong pilot. I've invested in some great new equipment over this past year and, and I'm ready bump this competition up a notch in quality! Get ready to be amazepunched with bodaciousment!

I have a couple questions. First off, I've been assuming that it's not okay, but I figured I'd ask anyway, is old video game sound effects off limits for use in our videos? Like the Mario coin sound, or the Pokemon "got item" sound?

Also, I'm currently using a Mac, and will be doing post-production in After Effects, and I don't believe (I'm pretty darned sure) that I wont be able to output a .avi, or a .wmv. Would a .mp4 or a .mov be acceptable or does it have to be .avi or .wmv?

Thanks in Advance.

Jimtopia - I've found an amazing FREE program that works on both Mac and Windows that outputs files into new formats (including among them AVI and WMV). Head over to http://www.squared5.com/ and download "MPEG Streamclip." I found it while I was trying to learn how to use my old Zi8's 60 FPS footage which outputs in an unrecognized file format for Final Cut. The original forum post dealing with it is here - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1805338 It gets into settings they used in MPEG Streamclip which may help you understand how the program works. It will even help you re-size your video as well, so it's closer to the 200MB suggested upload size!

 

[Jimtopia]

awesome stuff

Wow, thanks a bunch man, I appreciate the help. Good luck in the competition!

 

[shadow946]

Hey guys @ the escapist. I'm working on my video entry as we speak, and it's coming together great, but I have a question.

With regards to music, can we only use public domain or original music? Or can we use small snippets of copyrighted songs. I know that Yahtzee did this for his early ZP videos

EDIT - Also, what about music from an E3 game trailer?

 

[APSunder]

So, I tried once again submitting my 5 minute cut this weekend and got an upload fail. I should point out that it might be because the file is in 1080p HD and over a gig in size lol. It's very fx intensive and has already been compressed, but would you guys suggest a compress it a lot more? If so, how much? Would going down to 720p and like 700 mb's help, and should I lower the kilobytes/second? Thanks.

 

[Snax]

So, I tried once again submitting my 5 minute cut this weekend and got an upload fail. I should point out that it might be because the file is in 1080p HD and over a gig in size lol. It's very fx intensive and has already been compressed, but would you guys suggest a compress it a lot more? If so, how much? Would going down to 720p and like 700 mb's help, and should I lower the kilobytes/second? Thanks.

I may not be an expert at videos...or this site...or really anything, but a 5 minute video (even if it is in 1080p) shouldn't really be pushing 1GB, that sounds like you aren't really compressing it. Remember these videos are going to be encoded online for playback as ether flv or mp4 (I forget which format escapist uses, probably flv). The high quality mode that Escapist uses (and I have never seen) is probably 720p and is probably 80-100Mb for a 5 minute clip (though that is obviously a guess).

So, unless you really just want to showcase your skills to the escapist staff (and your HD camera's limits) you might want to scale down the bit rate and the resolution to 720p. Of course if you keep it as high a quality as possible, it will certainly boost the quality of their converted version for the net...so I dunno.

I guess this reply was kinda useless to you so I'm going to stop talking now. But I know that Youtube videos are around 4Mb/s so double that and it might be a reasonable quality video. Sorry I can't give you a definite answer, but here is my halfassed answer while you await a real one

 

[Spinwhiz]

I've got the same question about time: My current cut is a little over 6 minutes (originally cut from 8) as I thought I could cut out unnecessary lines for 5 minutes, but found out it's incredibly difficult because of how fast the series goes anyway. Would you accept something that's, say 5:30, 5:45, 5:59? (Youtube used to defined 10 minutes as 10:59 and 29/30 frames)

5 minutes tops. We won't even look at one that is over 5 minutes long.

I have a couple questions. First off, I've been assuming that it's not okay, but I figured I'd ask anyway, is old video game sound effects off limits for use in our videos? Like the Mario coin sound, or the Pokemon "got item" sound?

Also, I'm currently using a Mac, and will be doing post-production in After Effects, and I don't believe (I'm pretty darned sure) that I wont be able to output a .avi, or a .wmv. Would a .mp4 or a .mov be acceptable or does it have to be .avi or .wmv?

Thanks in Advance.

First question, you are probably okay. Second question, submit what you can. If it doesn't upload, which is should, then you can try something else. We are able to accept a lot of different video types.

Hey guys @ the escapist. I'm working on my video entry as we speak, and it's coming together great, but I have a question.

With regards to music, can we only use public domain or original music? Or can we use small snippets of copyrighted songs. I know that Yahtzee did this for his early ZP videos

EDIT - Also, what about music from an E3 game trailer?

Music is tough. Even under fair use, things can get a bit hairy at times. It's always better to use your own or get written consent from an artist to use theirs.

 

[HDHDFilms]

Looking forward to submitting something to this, got so many ideas..

 

[APSunder]

Submitted, thanks for all the help with the technical problems guys (ended up sending it @ ~300mb's in 720p). For anyone interested, here's a summary:


The series is called Sunder

An online comic store owner receives a comic with the ability of teleportation after a similar item causes massive destruction.

I'd imagine the series would get considerably more complicated from here, and maintain a scifi/nerdcore/drama/action setup but with more emotion later. The original episode is 7:52 minutes including about 0:52 of credits, the intro (and some black space), though, not gonna lie, it forced this cut to come out a little choppier.

Hope you like it,
-Anthony

 

[steverivers]

Is it just me, or are other people experiencing a "403 Error: Access Denied" error message when they try to access the upload page?

 

[Joseph Eckert]

Is it just me, or are other people experiencing a "403 Error: Access Denied" error message when they try to access the upload page?

I just got the same thing. Hopefully it will be back up soon.

 

[Spinwhiz]

Is it just me, or are other people experiencing a "403 Error: Access Denied" error message when they try to access the upload page?

I just got the same thing. Hopefully it will be back up soon.

Should be up now. If anyone notices it return to the 403 error again, PM me.

 

[steverivers]

Yup! It's working like a charm now. Thanks lots Paul, it's appreciated!

 

[Mr.Mattress]

My thing is almost done (Thank goodness!) I should have it up by the end of next week. I hope everyone has fun this year!